UPDATED: Warriors tame Tigers; Joaquim reaches 1,000

Vander Joaquim climbed into elite status in the history of the Hawai’i men’s basketball team, and the Warriors climbed the standings of the Big West Conference in a 60-52 victory over Pacific on Thursday night.

A crowd of 5,571 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Warriors improve to 10-7 overall and into a tie for second place in the Big West at 4-2. They also saw Joaquim score 16 points and become just the 15th player in the history of the program to score 1,000 in a Hawai’i uniform.

“That’s a huge win for us,” head coach Gib Arnold said. “Not only does it keep us in the running in the Big West, keeps us up near the top, but that’s team that’s a team that was playing absolutely red hot.”

Pacific, which entered with a three-game winning streak, dropped to 9-8 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

Joaquim, a 6-foot-10 senior center, has scored most of his career points near the basket, but it was his 3-pointer late in the game that clinched the win for the Warriors.

The game was close throughout, featuring 15 lead changes and eight ties. The last tie was at 45 with 7:24 remaining, and then the Warriors took control down the stretch.

A key sequence came with 1:32 remaining and the Warriors holding a 51-49 lead. Pacific guard Lorenzo McCloud missed two free throws that could have tied it, and on the ensuing possession, Joaquim drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key off an assist from Ozren Pavlovic to give the Warriors an insurmountable 54-49 advantage with 1:06 remaining.

“I just kind of popped out and I was waiting for Ozi (Pavlovic),” Joaquim said. “He ended up passing it and I ended up making the 3, so it was a good play.”

Pavlovic, a 6-foot-8 freshman from Croatia, played the point guard position for most of the game (28 minutes) and finished with career-highs of 13 points and four assists. He went 8 for 9 from the free-throw line, including 4 for 4 in the final minute to secure the win.

“The feeling was great,” Pavlovic said. “I was kind of tired – first time getting playing time like this. But I love basketball more than anything.”

Arnold said: “As Ozi has developed this year I’ve grown to really like what he can bring to the table. He had five turnovers tonight, but he’s got to work on that … but he is a threat all the time out there.”

Senior Hauns Brereton also played a key reserve role, scoring 11 points – all in the first half. He went 4 of 5 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range to break out of a month-long slump.

The Warriors committed a season-high 23 turnovers and shot just 37.3 percent from the field on offense, but relied on a multi-faceted defense to stymie the Tigers. Hawai’i used a mix of zone, man-to-man and full-court defenses to confuse Pacific into a season-low 30.9 percent shooting from the field, including just 3 for 27 (11.1 percent) from 3-point range.

“We did some things differently today that I think worked,” Arnold said. “We pressed the entire first half and a little bit in the second half … that’s a rhythm team and once they get into a rhythm they run a lot of different sets and a lot of different things and we felt we could keep them out of their rhythm.”

The first half featured nine lead changes, and Hawaii took a 30-29 advantage at intermission. Brereton went 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the first half, and his blocked shot of a layup attempt by Pacific’s Colin Beatty just before the half ended preserved the Hawai’i lead.

Joaquim’s historic basket came with 9:15 remaining off another assist from Pavlovic. Joaquim caught the ball in the low post and turned for an uncontested bank shot from close range.

“That’s a big deal,” Arnold said. “When you’re one of 15 players who have played here, and all the great players … I couldn’t be more proud.”

Joaquim is the first player recruited by Arnold to reach the 1,000-point club at Hawai’i. He also ranks fourth on UH’s career rebounding list and sixth for blocked shots.

After Joaquim’s 3-pointer gave the Warriors a five-point advantage, Pavlovic (4 for 4) and Brandon Spearman (2 for 2) combined to go 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in the final minute to secure the victory.

The 52 points was the fewest allowed by the Warriors this season. Hawai’i also out-rebounded the Tigers, 42-38 – the 11th consecutive game that the Warriors have won the rebounding battle.

Sama Taku led Pacific with 15 points. McCloud, the Tigers’ leading scorer entering the game with 11.6 points per game, finished with six points on 3-of-10 shooting.

The Warriors will play another Big West home game on Saturday when they host UC Davis, which defeated Cal State Northridge, 74-71, on Thursday.

Ugly game, but a Win is a Win. Seems like Coach found a pg and a tall one at that. Just gotta keep on practicing not turning the ball over. He does have a good bb mind and hopefully in time he can finish his shot near the hoop.

He’s gotta work on his passes, he’s got that one passes that sailed over his team mates head a couple of times at least

23 turnovers ain’t gonna do it. Terrible. Arnold substitutions are like a fire drill, running people in and out constantly. No wonder there is little continuity and steadiness. Jefferson looked out of control out there, oh for and 3 TO in 7 minutes. He must be frustrated. Tavita, air ball but he made one too. No much firepower. Pavlovic did some nice things, but still made some bad passes. Clair did the best, no turnovers. He didn’t even break a sweat. He must be frustrated too, after starting 5 straight games then not playing at all the last 3. Very strange. But, winning cures a lot of things.

Ozzie really needs to play the three, not well suited a the point, slow dribble high dribble, foot speed, but good foul shooter , hope Spearman can come out of his shooting slump, finish the drives, offensive and defensive rebounding really lacked in first half, thankfully Vander played well and saved us in second half. Come on Students , bring it on Saturday Nite, let’s get loud and raukus . We need a loud crowd tomorrow nite! Be there!

Correct too many turnovers. This year, all the guys who played, or started have had more than one turnover in game. This year, if they get 18-19 turnovers, yet win the rebounding war, and cause turnovers and score off of their defense like last night, and STILL get the W, UH BB team and Gib will take it.

This year, no one can say, they did not have fair shake in starting, having PT, or a shot at being part of team on court. At least, 12 guys on the roster, know that their names can be called at anytime. A lot of the turnovers, guys try to do too much, driving into the lane, and running into multiple defenders who collapse and lose the ball.

Another thing, if you were watching at game, the officials were letting the game get real PHYSICAL, that is why no real continuity on both sides, both teams really got after it defensively.

Well, Derek, you are right, so are all the rest of at least 4000-5000 UH fans, this team, The Cardiac Kids, give supreme effort, the experience gained now, a third of way through their season, will benefit them on the road, (a tough 4 game swing)and setting up for a run at BW conference tourney title.

Agree, with some, kind of wonder why Spearman not given a chance to run point? Spearman, was hurt, and ill past couple of weeks, I guess he helps team by coming off the bench, a slasher, occasional 3 ball shooter and energy guy. UH team will prove to be deeper than most come BWC tourney time. Still have to limit, unforced, Untimely turnovers, that comes, for Ozi, more experience , PT, and maturity, Love the fact that Ozi can shoot FT’s!

23 turnovers, 16 offensive rebounds given up, bad % from the field and free throw line. No need to analyze this one. It was that ugly. UH is very fortunate Pacific played worse than UH and shot horribly from 3.

A win is a win and I think UC Davis will be an easy win. I just want to see somebody step up at the PG position and execute the offense.

Gib clearly doesn’t have confidence in Roop or Tavita right now. Oz is playing out of position at PG and is doing ok. it’s clear he’s not the permanent solution, but at least he does provide an offensive threat and is a decent passer. The PG is still a revolving door because nobody is taking care of the ball and Roop and Tavita are poor passers.

I like that the team is unselfish, but often too unselfish. Whenever Tavita successfully drives to the paint, he always tries to pass the ball, even if its wide open. You have to take the open shot if its there. Twice he tried to force a pass into traffic and led to turnovers. Both times he had wide open shots from inside 6′.

The solution to the PG position is sitting out this season. Tavita is gone, Roop needs to vastly improve in order to start next year over Shamburger, but not going to happen. Your solution is named Keith Shamburger. You will see much improved play when dude steps in and takes over the reigns next season. For this season we gotta live with the growing pains of Roop and Ozi cause Tavita who should be leading at the position is suspect. He may have had a little success early on distributing the ball but teams know his shooting is inconsistent, ball-handling is suspect and decision making during the clutch isn’t up to par…which is why they pressure the hell out of our point guards with much success in getting steals and having them turn the ball over consistently.

Agreed. Keith is a very good , true point guard. His RS transfer year, he is working it on scout, and getting after Jace, Roop and whomever else Gib tries in practice. The guys, Gib has used, they are earnest, work hard , trying best, some out of position, others don’t have the PG mentality, more SG, i.e. Roop, Ozi, would be good 2 or 3, however, Gib has to do what he has to do to get wins.(should have recruited a JC with 3 yr to play true point last spring when other guys left, that was a weakness in recruiting class)

He was counting on Jace and Roop to run with it this year. When he started to use Jefferson, kind of running out of options, maybe he tries Spearman? Guys are winning chance to start or see major minutes based on practices and game time taking care of ball, decision making BB IQ. I have said before, if Gib wins regular season, or Big West touney without a true PG, he should be up for coach of the year in the Big West.

Team wins by committee, and really, the whole team can help out, Hauns, Jawato, Spearman at 2 and 3, can help bring ball up, and be in positions to receive passes, same with the Bigs, This team is on a mission, if they, can be firing on all cylinders by BWC tourney time, they have a shot at NCAA’s, in meantime, take your blood pressure meds, antacids, etc, The Cardiac Kids, These guys want to win so badly, nice to see them go 2-2 on the road in next few weeks, would bode well for final stretch run.

In meantime, nothing we can do about it, Keith has to wait till this Nov 2013 before seeing regular on court action. Hope Gib is looking for at least a preferred walkon, PG, a true PG for next year. As Gib stated in post game radio show, that is what makes the BW teams so competitive in the league, they have good guards, and when you have good guards, you have potential to win games, at home and on the road.

Hope the best for the rest of season., wish that Jace, Spearman, Roop, Jawato, step up in cutting down (really the Whole team)turnovers, keep it down to 12 or less if possible, and Ozi might be able to swing over to more natural 2 and 3, where he is getting confidence in his shooting, really valuable PT experience he is getting now, bodes well for upcoming games. More perimeter scoring aside from Jawato, and nice to see Hauns back. Hauns we need your leadership bro. same with Jace and Vander!

Love this group of players but Gib will age 10yrs by the end of season, pure white baby.! Very stressfull job. But Im sure he wouldn’t trade it for anything, he loves this team. Now go out and recruit a A1 ready to play D1 point guard to go along with Shamburger, one is not enough , anything can happen.

I was impressed with Pacific. Much more disciplined than us. They were all active defenders, played as a team, and no significant drop off from starters to bench. If they had another go-to-scorer or two, they would be tough.

UH’s Combo Guards (Tavita and Manroop) have been disappointments (I’m not going to even call them PGs anymore). Serious question mark as to who on staff thought it would be OK to have them at the PG position without bringing in one more guy who’s eligible this season. Think about it… we’re now calling on our frosh 6-8 SF to bring the ball down court. While Ozren is not a PG, he has a very nice skill set that will only get better moving forward. I also like that he doesn’t appear rattled too much after making a mistake. He reminds me of a young Toni Kukoc and would be an interesting piece at SF next year.

What’s up with Isaac Fotu the last few games? Seems like he’s playing with less energy and focus. Has he hit the freshman wall?

We lucked out on this one as we were a little better than Pacific. They were putting up bricks from the outside and the free throw line. And what can you say about our turnovers? If anyone tells me that a pg is not the most valuable player on the team just gotta look at this team. If we had a decent pg we would easy hit 20 plus wins and invitation to NCAA tourney. But there’s still time for someone to step up. Oz is no pg but I think if Manroop can’t do it then gotta go with Pavlovic. He can improve his ball handling and pg duties and come out as the decent pg that we need to take us to the tourneys. He’s got his free throw shooting down already and cool in the clutch. Those are great assets to have in the closing moments. Hauns why don’t you drive more to the basket so you can go to the free throw line? Your excellent free throw shooting is going to waste. Plus that will make your defender play a little back from you. He was in your face second half because you were torching him first half.

I certainly hope Shamburger is as good as advertised, but he can’t help the Bows (in games) until next season.

Gib’s got a tough task of trying to figure out how to get the offense going when the PG, whoever is playing, is a turnover machine. Many TOs are just plain careless ball handling or poorly placed passes… unforced errors.

Big West Teams have enough film on UH now and they have figured out how to bog down UH’s offense and Gib needs to start adjusting to that. They know UH wants to pound it to Vander, so they’re packing the paint or playing zone. As good as Vander was at making quick decisions vs Long Beach, he completely regressed vs Pacific. He got back into the habit of holding the ball waiting for the double, triple or quadruple at times, before making any sort of move… often forcing a contested shot. The problem that comes with holding the ball so long is that it wastes time on the shot clock. So if Vander eventually passes the ball, UH has less time on the shot clock to develop another opportunity. Also, there’s no flow to the offense. Everything stops when Vander has it.

Pacific attacked Vander with a delayed double team… usually waiting until he started dribbling before collapsing on him. All Vander had to do was make his move immediately after catching the ball and he could have gotten his shot before the double arrived.

UH is just going through the roller coaster ride of a very young roster. I just hope somebody can take command of the PG position. That’s the Achilles heel for UH going forward. UH will live an die with the PG play.

Aloha WI fans and contributors…love this site and sorry I don’t post more often as I am one who just enjoys the chatter and good vibes here.

I continue to like this team (okay, love this team as I am always a big fan but always cautiously optimistic).

I do feel we are just a Shamburger or Miah away from a top 25 team/ranking. And that is a legitimate statement….and let’s be real here Warrior fans…..when was the last time that we could really say we are a solid ball club….okay, I guess sometimes during Carl English and then the Savo days. But on the real, we can still make this happen as we just need to figure out the PG.

The PG is like the QB and we are getting close. I do feel that Jace is a capable PG but one who just helps us as much as he can. Then we know of our other test cases – Roop, Garrett, Spearman and now Ozi. I do agree Ozi is best suited as a 3 but he could actually be our best bet at this point. Don’t worry he will go back to 3 once Shammy is running the show but he presents all kinds of match up problems and his main goal is getting the offense started and into the bigs which is our strength.

I love our coaching staff in how they have created a good chemistry this year and are all out recruiters…..however, I do humbly question some of the late game play calling…esp timeouts. Without key PG leadership, the number one thing to rely on as a player on the court is to have timeouts when things get out of control. And I cannot tell you a game that we had recently with timeouts in our back pocket with the final minutes remaining when we were down. Calling a timeout in a trap with 3-4 minutes remaining is not needed….save it for the trap on a press when we have 30 seconds remaining or a crucial possession in the final seconds when floor leadership (let’s be honest) isn’t where we need it to be yet.

Just saying…but lovin that we have something on the hardwood to cheer on…..see ya Saturday night!